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Voices Under Berlin: The Tale of a Monterey Mary is the tale of one of the early skirmishes of the Secret Cold War told with a pace and a black humor reminiscent of that used by Joseph Heller (Catch-22) and Richard Hooker (M*A*S*H*). It is set against the backdrop of the CIA cross-sector tunnel operation to tap three Russian telecom¬munications cables in Berlin in the mid-nineteen-fifties.

It is the story of the American soldiers who worked the tunnel, and how they fought for a sense of purpose against boredom and the enemy both within and without. One of them is the target of a Russian “honey-trap,” but which one? Kevin, the Russian transcriber, Blackie, the blackmarketeer, or Lt. Sheerluck, the martinet?

The other end of the tunnel is the story of the Russians whose telephone calls the Americans are intercepting. Their end of the tale is told in the unnarrated transcripts of their calls. They are the voices under Berlin.

· Dr. Wesley Britton, author of Spy Television, Beyond Bond: Spies in Fiction and Film, and Onscreen and Undercover: The Ultimate Book of Movie Espionage, calls Voices Under Berlin “a spy novel that breaks all the molds," adding that "in the tradition of Greene and Ambler, 'Voices Under Berlin' contains many literate qualities that make it a work of special consideration, worthy of an audience much broader than that of espionage enthusiasts or those interested in Cold War history. In fact, one indication of the book's quality is that it was among the award winners at the 2008 Hollywood Book Festival, a very rare honor for a spy novel."

· Po Wong writing at bookideas.com says “Kevin is a hero in the mold of McMurphy, the rebellious asylum inmate who is the protagonist in Ken Kesey’s One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Kevin manages to do his job despite the blind obedience to stringent regulations that frequently overrides common sense and intelligence in large military operations, and despite the widespread ineptness around him. ... Voices under Berlin is a coherent, funny, and often sardonic look at real espionage work. The detail is so realistic that you may find yourself wondering, as I did, whether this is a novel or the memoirs of an actual intelligence agent. Of course, if you’re looking for James Bond, you won’t find him here. What you will find is a fascinating account of what it must have been like to be toiling away at an important but often dreary job underneath the streets of Berlin during the Cold War years.

· Midwest Book Review says one of the things that sets this novel apart is “the author’s combining a genuine gift for humor with a deft literary astuteness in telling a story that fully engages the reader quite literally from first page to last.”

Winner of six book awards.

Also by this author:

Berlin in Early Cold-War Army Booklets

The Day Before the Berlin Wall: Could We Have Stopped It? — An Alternate History of Cold War Espionage

Berlin in Early Berlin-Wall Era CIA, State Department, and Army Booklets

Reunification: A Monterey Mary Returns to Berlin

Berlin in Détente-era Berlin Brigade Booklets

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Book Description:

"By far the strongest part of the book is the banter between the Americans and the Russians on the other side of the wire. Their voices are distinct and fun, and there were several points where I was laughing out loud. . . . the dialog and practical jokes amongst the men are well worth the read. I was actually sad when the book ended and I had to say farewell to these characters."

From the Publisher:

"Voices Under Berlin: The Tale of a Monterey Mary" is a novel about one of the early skirmishes of the Cold War told with a pace and a black humor reminiscent of that used by Joseph Heller (Catch-22) and Richard Hooker (Mash). It is set against the backdrop of Operation GOLD (PBJOINTLY), the CIA cross-sector spy tunnel operation in Berlin in the mid-1950s.

The yarn is told from both ends of the tunnel. One end is the story of the "tunnel rats," the American soldiers who man the operation. It tells of their fight for a sense of purpose against boredom and the enemy both within and without.

The novel opens on the day of the flood that shut down digging in the tunnel until pumps could be brought into Berlin from the American Zone of Germany. The "tunnel rats" are told to make themselves scarce until the pumps arrive, and they disperse throughout Berlin, where three of them meet German women, one of whom is a SWALLOW, the bait in a Russian "honey trap," a sex for secrets operation. But which of them is the SWALLOW's target? Kevin, the Russian transcriber, Blackie, the blackmarketeer or Lieutenant Sheerluck, the martinet.

At the other end of the tunnel are the Russians whose telephone calls the Americans are intercepting. They are the voices under Berlin. Their side of the story is told in the transcripts of their calls, which reveal tantalizing details of the "honey-trap" operation, but not enough for the reader to figure out who its target is, until the final chapters of the book.

The boredom inherent in any intercept operation while waiting for the target's proverbial loose lips to provide the information that will sink a proverbial ship takes on a role in the story similar to the major role it played in Thomas Heggen's "Mister Roberts". To relieve their boredom the Americans play practical jokes on one another and on the hapless East-German guards in a tower across the border.

The vast amount of "hurry up and wait" time that is available to play jokes allows this pastime to be raised almost to the level of an art form. For example, the Lieutenant is sent to get an "ST-one Precision Operator Head Space Adjustment Tool," which is not what it seems. The East Germans in the tower across the border are treated to a number of mid-night plays staged in the American compound, one of which enrages the East German Command to the point that they are prepared to make an armed crossing of the border to retaliate. Will cooler Russian heads prevail, or will the "tunnel rats" have to fight for their lives?

Against this background of practical jokes there is always the sinister threat of Americans being kidnapped by the GRU "body snatcher" unit that was one of the hallmark features of Cold-War Berlin at this period in time. Information obtained from Russian transcripts offers the Americans an opportunity to thwart two kidnappings, but fears of the source of the information leaking prevents the Chief of Base from taking action on the information. "So, you're a plumber! That's a surprise. I thought that I was talking to an intelligence officer," yells Kevin, displaying the smooth people skills that had gotten him put on straight Swings and out of people's way. Is there any way to save the intended victims?

The faulty transcription of one of the Russians' calls takes the world to the brink of war. Can the mistake it contains be corrected before the Cold War goes hot?

"And why is this man transcribing a tape in his underwear?" asks lieutenant Sheerluck while all this is going on.

Who were really the victors and who the vanquished in this battle of wits? History says the Russians won, but were they the real enemy, or were they just the target of the tunnel operation?